Girl from North London

28 May 2017

With the recent heatwave that we've experienced in the UK, I've been stumped with what to wear. So naturally I turned to Pinterest to update my Summer Street Style board for some inspiration. I've selected my favourite trends that I want to invest in, that will work for summer in the city and on holiday.

I wear skirts more than trousers, and certainly more than jeans (I know, not living up to my millennial status) this trend would be the perfect way for me to work some denim into my wardrobe. It's super versatile as shown by the girls above, and could easily take me from a (fashion) office to a pub garden to the beach.

The white dress is a summer staple. Whether in linen with sandals and a basket bag on holiday, or a crisp shirt dress with brogues for summer workwear, a white dress looks insane with a tan and so simple to style.

For those who aren't enamoured by skirts or dresses, wide leg trousers are a perfect breezy option for summer. I need a pair in white, or even pastel pink or orange... Can't wait to style them with a shirt, or pull them over a one piece swimsuit when one needs to take an Aperol break from the beach.

18 May 2017

Underwear-as-outerwear is one of my favourite trends at the moment, but is a tricky one to style. So I've recently been turning to Instagram for some inspiration. It has taken a little while to find the best sources, so I thought I'd round up my favourite Instagrammers for some lingerie inspo!

I've been following Lydia's blog for ages and recently she has been styling up some gorgeous pieces from the high street on her Instagram in a plethora of combinations... who knew lingerie could be this versatile?

Pretty much everyone I know follows Lissy. Her OOTDs shot in her aesthetically-pleasing white room (seriously how does someone's home look like that?!) are very on-trend and I love the way she has incorporated the 'underwear-as-outerwear' trend into this.

Although you (almost creepily) never see her face, Talia has got the knack of styling bralets and bodies down. Her preference seems to be for strappy pieces, which are often uniquely styled peeking out of the top of garments.

13 May 2017

I've never had a sweet tooth. I'd always reach for olives over chocolate. I prefer a dry glass of white wine over a sweet rosé, and a salty margarita always wins out over a sex on the beach. I'm the same with my coffee order. When the summer months come around, I love an iced black americano more than anything else. Cold, bitter, refreshing... Iced lattes are nice to start with, but I find drinking that amount of milk on a hot day a bit much. And don't even get me started on the sugar content of the frappés that the chains love to sell. Anyway, the point of this ramble is if you're not a fan of sweet stuff comme moi then I urge you to try an iced americano this summer - you won't regret it!

Onto the outfit... the pairing of a mesh top with my wide leg trousers is one of my favourite outfits at the moment. I'm really into the whole underwear-as-outerwear thing, and this mesh top is a simple way to tap into the trend. As always I styled it with ankle boots, my leather jacket (such a good investment piece!) and my pink sunnies (an absolute steal).

12 March 2017

Over half a year ago, I published my post on Vegetarianism: 6 Months In, sharing my early experiences of pescetarianism and interesting realisations that I had come across. Now I've been a pescetarian for a year, I thought I'd post an update, with new struggles and discoveries of mine. Hopefully some of you can relate, and I can help out others that are new to the meat-free diet.

Pesto often isn't veggie!

This one blew my mind, because it isn't well known and when I was growing up I'm sure all my veggie friends lived off the stuff. Basically pesto is made with either Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese, which isn't vegetarian as it contains rennet. I now buy Sacla's Organic Vegetarian Pesto (they also do a Free From version for you vegans) or I like the fresh pesto that you can get from Waitrose. Another random thing to avoid is certain e-numbers - E120 and E542 aren't vegetarian.

Being a pescetarian in Japan

I'm half Japanese, and my trip over the summer was my first visit to Japan being pescetarian. My choice to include fish in my diet was a huge benefit, as I could still enjoy sushi, sashimi and the many cold noodle dishes that are popular in the summer. However, I did miss out on a lot of my favourite foods - ramen, gyōza, yakiniku, karaage just to name a few. Vegetarianism is practically unheard of in Japan, so restaurants don't go out of their way to provide a vegetarian alternative like in London. Being a lacto-ovo vegetarian in Japan would be almost prohibitive because I always had to turn to fish or seafood during my stay there, which is a shame because the Japanese have an amazing respect for food and the quality wherever you go is very high, and the food is one of the best things about the country.

On a side note, when flying long-haul, I'd recommend that fellow veggies research how to get a vegetarian alternative for meals. You often have to select your 'special' meal before the flight (this applies to vegans and those with allergies too) either by phone or online and the deadline may be 24-36 hours before the flight. This varies for different airlines so I'd check well in advance for their policy.

Food at Christmas

A lot of people have expressed an interest in vegetarianism to me, but often bring up Christmas as a argument against. My Christmas is spent with my cousins, who all have their own dietary requirements, so this year we had 1 pescetarian, 1 vegetarian and 3 vegans round the table which makes things easier. I enjoyed a vegan nut roast, roast potatoes and plenty of vegetables on the day, which I was more than happy with. But admittedly, I was pretty heartbroken about the Christmas Pudding which was 11%(!) beef suet. Next year I'll put in a request for veggie gravy and pudding.

As a final mention, my friend Freya got me The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook for my birthday in August, and I have been loving it. It has loads of yummy yet realistic recipes and a very helpful section at the beginning with advice for vegetarians so I'd highly recommend!

Let me know what discoveries you've made if you've changed your diet and any advice for me down below.

10 March 2017

As a self-confessed lingerie addict, I'd never be able to say if underwear-as-outerwear is a trend for a particular season. My eye is automatically drawn to lingerie-inspired looks so I'd be pretty biased to declare it more than a micro-trend. However, with me being the fashion weirdo that I am, I compiled all the underwear-influenced looks into a folder on my laptop titled "Lingerie Influences A/W 17". I ended up with 78 images, so even if it comes from a biased source, numbers don't lie! With the conclusion that underwear-as-outerwear is a trend for Autumn/Winter 17, I thought I'd share some of my favourite looks from fashion month.

CHLOÉ

CINQ À SEPT

DOLCE & GABBANA

DAVID KOMA

DIESEL BLACK GOLD

ERMANNO SCERVINO

GIAMBATTISTA VALLI

J.W.ANDERSON

JEREMY SCOTT

LANVIN

MARNI

NAEEM KHAN

NINA RICCI

OFF-WHITE

PHILOSOPHY DI LORENZO SERAFINI

PRADA

SAINT LAURENT

STELLA MCCARTNEY

Y/PROJECT

All images from vogue.com

It was hard to narrow the looks down, but I hope you enjoyed my selection! Let me know what your favourite look is in the comments. I'm sad that fashion month has come to an end, I'll miss my evening browse through the shows. Now I need to focus on spring fashion and work out what to wear in the coming months. Anyway, thanks for reading - bisou bisou!

27 February 2017

Unlike the Gucci show which took place the same day, Fendi isn't a show that I normally await hungrily. But as soon as the finale videos and close-ups started flooding into my Instagram feed - courtesy of my favourite bloggers - I was entranced. That grey Prince of Wales check, those sheer tulle dresses, and most importantly those BOOTS. Lagerfeld certainly caught my attention this season at Fendi, without the fanfare needed at Chanel. So without further ado, here are my favourite looks so you can drool over them too...

The colour palette of this collection is very appealing, the grey tones of the check tailoring with a dash of daring red declares that the Fendi woman means business, but still has time for sass. I type this with scarlet nails and feel the same sense of womanly power that the Fendi girl exudes. I love the low V's of the undergarments, and the sheer dresses that barely cover them. Meanwhile the patent leather of the glistening black coat and lipstick red skirt show us that this trend isn't going anywhere. I also love the double choker style necklines and I particularly like the skirt-layered-over-shirtdress look. I first saw this wrong-but-so-right kinda layering on Man Repeller but have seen a few designers showcasing it during my virtual flip through fashion month. It's probably too soon to start wearing this combination myself, but give it a season or two and maybe I'll be walking to work in a similar get-up!

All images from vogue.com

Looking to the accessories, I particularly loved the muted pink of the first handbag and all of the minibags! Completely impractical, but so adorable! I also think the 3 wallets on a ring is so unique, and of course the fluffy handle of the last bag won me over.

So which was your favourite look? And let me know if there's any other shows from Milan Fashion Week that I should check out!